Pothole season arrives with a bang

Wednesday

Jan 31, 2018 at 11:02 AM

Massachusetts is known for many great things from top colleges and universities to fine hospitals and doctors.However, one of the things the Bay State is not noted for is the condition of its roads.In fact when Massachusetts road conditions are paired with our traffic issues, Massachusetts ranks 50th in the country for traffic and infrastructure; Nebraska is number one, according to wallethub.com.Take traffic out of the mix and Massachusetts fairs much better. We don’t make the top 10 for bad roads like two of our neighbors do (Connecticut and Rhode Island, number 1 and 2 respectively), according to American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report card that gave Massachusetts a D+ for 2017 (infrastructurereportcard.org).But that fact may not matter much to the motorists who hit a huge pothole on Route 20 in Worcester last week, damaging more than a dozen cars.As MassDOT points out on its website those potholes are an inevitable result of winter and early spring with the freeze-thaw cycle.“Potholes result as water from snow and rain seeps into small cracks in the roadway surface. As temperatures drop, the water freezes and expands, making the cracks larger until a pothole forms. Heavy traffic, pavement age, vehicle weights, and snow and ice operations contribute to the problem.”To that end MassDOT is reaching out to the public to let them know about pothole locations on state roads so that repairs can be made as soon as possible. The agency says it works closely with public safety officers and city and town officials to monitor problems.Check your community’s website to see if there is a mechanism to report potholes on town roads.Under state and case law, there is no recovery for property damage, only for personal injury (limited to $4,000) in actions against the Commonwealth due to road defects. A motorist might have more luck filing a claim against a municipality, which is governed under a different statute.In any event, car insurance should cover the damage but only after the deductible is satisfied.In other words, motorists bear the burden of car repairs due to potholes on our roads. According to ACSE, the average cost per Massachusetts motorist per year for driving on public roads in need of repair is $539.According to Ally.com, here are the best ways to avoid hitting potholes:1. Slow down: The faster you’re driving when you hit a pothole, the worse the damage is likely to be;2. Give some space: Should the car in front of you fail to avoid a pothole, you’ll give yourself the time to react if you leave a good deal of space between you and the other driver;3. Prepare for puddles: When you see a puddle in the middle of the road, it’s impossible to know how deep that crater will be, so be very cautious;4. Hold tight: Potholes can cause a violent jolt to your car, so it’s very important that you have a solid grip on the steering wheel. Otherwise, your car can veer into the next lane or you can lose control entirely;5. Don’t brake: You’ll want to avoid braking as you hit the pothole because doing so can actually cause more damage;6. Keep your tires full: Properly inflated tires will give your car added protection from potholes;7. Inspect new tires: Inspect the tire by looking at the DOT number, a four-digit number that stands for the week and year the tire was made.Massachusetts is not alone. Pothole horror stories on the web come from as far away as Minneapolis and even the U.K. where several years ago an anonymous man in Manchester U.K. used industrial chalk to draw a part of the male anatomy around the numerous potholes in that city, with the hope the eyesore would expedite the process, the BBC reported.